Steam trap



` March 8,1927. l

F. THOMAS STEAM TRAP Filed July 50. A192e 3 Ulli Patented Mar. 8, 1927.

FREDERICK THOMAS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM TRAP.

Application filed July 30,

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a steam trap which shall be compact and comparatively inexpensive to make and which shall be reliable, etlicient and fully automatic in operation.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description at the end of which the invention will be claimed.

In the following description reference will be made to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof and in which- Figure 1 is a view, principally in central section, of a steam trap embodying features of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same in section.

Referring to the drawing there is a hollow body shown as made in two sections or parts l and 2, bolted or otherwise suitably connected together. The body is provided with a water outlet 3 and with two opposed and aligned openings ofwhich one, 4, is a water inlet opening and of which the other, 5, constitutes a threaded support opening. 6 is a valve seat arranged in the inlet opening l. 7 is a. valve for the seat 6. 8 is a screw plug arranged in the support opening and provided with an extension 9 projectinginto the hollow interior ofthe valve body. closure for the opening 5 and it protects the screw plug 8 from being tampered with after it has been adjusted while at the same time it affords access for adjustment. rllhere are oblong strips of metal differing in thermal coefficient, and they are connected at their ends as shown at 11. The outside strips 12 and 13 are connected with the valve 7 and with the screw plug 8 and an insidestrip 14 is guided by the extension 9.

In use water lof condensation from the steam line 15 cools the steam trap and more particularly the strips of metal of differing thermal coefficient, causing them or rather the strips 12 and 13, as of brass, to contract in respect to the strip 14 as of steel, with the result that the strips 12 and 13 approach the Cil 10 is a 1926. Serial No. 125,897.

strip 1 4, thus opening the valve 7, as indicated in the drawing, so that water may enter the valve body and escape as at 3.

Upon withdrawal in the manner described of the water of condensation steam acting upon the valve body and the parts thereof causes the strips 12 and 13 to elongate or Vtend to elongate in respect to the strip lll,

but since all the strips are connected together as Vat 11, the result is that the strips 12 and 18 bulge or bow away from the strip 14, thus closing the valve 7 and cutting olf the escape of steam.

The rectangular oblong form of the strips permits the valve body tobe of similar form in plan and in elevation the valve body may be somewhat elliptical in cross section to accommodate the bowing or bulging of the strips and the consequent 4movement of the valve so that the device as a whole is compact. The parts are all Simple in construe tion and easily assembled.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modi* iications may be made in details of construction and arrangement and in matters of mere form without departing from the spirit of the invention which is not limited to such matters or otherwiseJ than the prior art and the appended claim may require.

I claim:

A steam trap including a hollow body provided with a water outlet and with two opposed and aligned openings of which one is awater inlet opening and of which the other constitutes a threaded support opening, a' valve seat arranged in the inlet opening, a valve for said seat, a screw plug arranged in the support opening and provided with an extension projecting into said body, and strips 0f metal differing in thermal coefficient and connected at their ends and of which the outside strips are connected with said valve and with the screw plug and of which the inside strip is guided by said extension.

FREDERICK THOMAS. 

